I love how every day in Paris brings a new surprise, and right when you have a routine, your wall tumbles after one pebble shifts a cm to the left! Perhaps a "tumbling wall" is dramatic, however, little comforts are important in a foreign country. By now, I have accepted that my two-week intensive course with MICEFA is finished, and that now I am independently maneuvering my way through the French educational system, which hasn't been easy. My orientation was only slightly comforting because there are at least 40-60 other exchange students like myself, who are equally lost and confused by the French, laissez-faire course-registration process! The realization that my semester in Paris might not yield any AU credits towards my Literature or French studies seems more and more plausible, and yet there is little that I can do but keep returning to l’Institut Catholique. During each visit, I acquire another useful, but not complete, piece of information, and perhaps eventually things will begin to make sense! I will never complain again about the organized and American method, where you sign up for courses months in advance, because this is not good for my nerves! Here, one must truly live with the ideology, “C’est la vie,” because just repeating the phrase is not enough, without feeling its effects like the French!
I came home to another surprise after a long, and slightly discouraging day at my orientation to discover that there will be another exchange “student” living with my family! He is about my age but graduated early and has an internship nearby in Paris. I suppose that was what my homestay mother was explaining to me earlier in the week, but like many things that are said to me in French, I did not fully understand! So when the doorbell rang around 7:45 pm and a nosy, but nice, young man began poking around my bathroom and the room across from mine, I was a bit confused. I saw the wine on the table and that we were eating in the dinning room, so I knew that it was a special occasion, and not to be surprised with the results. He joined us for dinner, which was when I learned that he was looking at our apartment to live here for THIS semester, and not for period AFTER Hayley leaves! Oh, that will be different, I thought to myself!
When I moved in, I realized that I was spoiled for having my own bathroom, and a household without an army of children and shower traffic! Some of my friends have strict bathroom and kitchen use regulations, while I traipse from my shower in my towel whenever I please, but I suppose that will have to change! On a positive note, however, he seems friendly enough, and he might be good for me, because he engaged me in more French conversation at home. I am still hesitant to be too conversational during dinner, after all, I am shy about my French, but he makes some mistakes, as well, which makes me feel better about my constant mis-pronunciations and vocabulary brain-farts! His conviviality might have been more because we were getting to know one another, since after all, we will apparently be living in very close quarters dangerously soon! C’est la vie, I suppose, right?
I would also like to point out that this morning my homestay father greeted me with a cheery, “Bon journée,” as he glided past the kitchen in his PJ bottoms with no shirt. Later, he unsually announced his departure to me before he left for the day, so I felt honored! I am not yet sure if we are making progress, or if that is just because he is French, but either way, I was tickled because he seems to be getting more comfortable around me, as evidence of his surprising lack of attire this morning!
I am off to L’Institut Catholique again today for another perplexing day, filled with fellow exchange students with equally unsettled nerves, so wish me luck, and I will keep you informed of how this wrinkle in my living arrangement turns out!
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